Essential Shines at LMDA Confab

We're proud and happy to announce that Theroun Patterson's powerful family drama A THOUSAND CIRCLETS, winner of the 2011 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award (and successfully produced in our 2011 Festival) has been picked up for a second production -- an 8-week run at the Detroit Repertory Theatre, next spring.  That makes two Essential Award winners in a row that have gone on to a second production (the first being our 2010 prize-winner, Gabriel Dean's QUALITIES OF STARLIGHT, which was recently produced in Washington, D.C. in the Source Theater Festival).

On June 29, Theroun Patterson and Irepresented the Essential Theatre at the LMDA's Writers Night, hosted by the Alliance Theatre.  LMDA stands for Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, and such folks from all over the country got a chance to hear about Atlanta theatres and their work with new plays, and the Essential Theatre got a lot of shout-outs from the different writers and directors speaking there. Learn more about LMDA

For the past fourteen years, the Essential Theatre has been the leading supporter and producer of new work by Georgia playwrights.  Next week we'll be opening our 2012 Essential Theatre Play Festival, running July 6 - August 5 at Actor's Express, and featuring THREE World Premieres by Georgia writers -- our first ever All-Georgia Festival!  The shows will be Topher Payne's EVELYN IN PURGATORY, Jordan Pulliam's BAT-HAMLET and THE LOCAL, a collaborative portrait of the City of Atlanta featuring the work of almost THIRTY Atlanta writers, musicians and storytellers.